The present subject matter relates generally to seating. More specifically, the present subject matter relates to a stowable seat adapted for use in a vehicle.
Provided is a stowable seat system. The provided stowable seat system, or unit, is applicable to and adapted for use in a vehicle. A variety of vehicles, such as buses and trains, often include one or more stowable seats. A stowable seat may have a deployed orientation, which occupies a space and which is usable for the seating of conventional passengers, and a stored orientation, which vacates the space otherwise occupied by the deployed seat, making the space available such that a person in a wheelchair may be positioned for transport in that space. Such a seat may be designed to accommodate at least two passengers.
In order to be stowable and be properly supportive of a passenger when deployed, conventional stowable seats are typically extremely heavy and often weigh greater than 85 pounds. Due to the weight issue, and other design factors, these seats are hard to handle. For example, many of these seats currently have a seat deck that is a structural support portion and may be very cumbersome to handle.
Further, many conventional stowable seats utilize tube-in-tube pivoting construction and several different latching mechanisms, which may require many steps in order to operate the unit when transitioning between orientations. These units are typically manually operated and in order for these latches to be operated by hand, the play in them is quite noticeable, which in turn, creates undesirable rattling, noise, vibration, or harshness while the vehicle is in motion.
It remains desirable to provide a stowable seat with improved ease of use.
Provided is a stowable seat system comprising a seat base and a seat frame operationally engaged with the seat base. The seat base includes a vehicle engagement portion adapted for operational engagement with an associated vehicle, and a seat engagement portion movably engaged with the vehicle engagement portion at a first actuation region. The seat frame includes a bottom portion, and a back portion movably engaged with the bottom portion at a second actuation region.